In recent years, the United States and Europe have had close trade and cultural exchanges with China. The trend of submitting patent applications to the United States and Europe for patent protection has been on the rise in recent years. But for the normal application process and examination, submitting a patent application to these two places usually requires a long waiting time.

The patent examination cycle in the United States is generally 2-3 years

European patent examination cycle: generally 2-5 years

In order to meet various needs, especially for applicants who hope to obtain authorized patents as soon as possible and protect existing intellectual property rights or obtain patent rights implementation as soon as possible, the US and European Patent and Trademark Offices provide a series of expedited procedures for applicants to choose from during the patent application stage.

Today, we will introduce "Accelerated Patent Examination in the United States and Europe"

1、 Acceleration methods for US invention patents

(1)Accelerated Examination (AE)

1. Applicable cases

All routine invention patent applications in the United States, including:

Continue to apply (CA)

Partial Continuing Application (CIP)

Division Application (DA)

Bypass application

Not applicable:

PCT National Phase Application (371 Route)

Re issue application

Review Procedure

Plant application, etc

2. Request timing:When submitting an application

Simultaneously pay the corresponding fees:

Large entity costs $140

Small entity $70

Micro entity costs $35

3. Requirement

① Patent applications and related documents must be submitted through an electronic application system, and the submitted application documents must be complete

② Exclusive rights ≤ 3, total number of claims ≤ 20, no multiple dependent claims, each claim must comply with the requirement of singularity

Need to complete complex search work in advance and provide relevant supporting documents (AESD: Accelerated Examination Support Document)

③ The response deadline for OA is only 2 months and cannot be extended

④ Multiple meetings with the examiner may be necessary.

4. Advantages

① Low official fees

② Can effectively accelerate the examination speed of patents: basically, the first examination opinion will be received within 3 months from the date of deciding to apply the procedure, and the final examination decision will be received within 12 months from the application date

③ The RCE proposed later can still be accelerated

5. Disadvantage

There are many and strict review conditions, which can easily lead to rejection

（2） Priority review (Track One pathway)

1. Applicable cases

It must be an original invention patent application or plant patent application submitted based on Section 35 USC 111 (a) of the law. Invention patent applications include:

① Continue to apply (CA)

② Partial Continuing Application (CIP)

③ Division Application (DA)

④ Bypass application

Not applicable:

① PCT National Phase Application (371 Route)

② Appearance application

③ Re issue application

④ Review Procedure

⑤ Temporary application

2. Request timing

When submitting an application or RCE request

Simultaneously pay the priority review fee

Large entity $4200

Small entity $2100

Micro entity $1050

3. Requirement

① Exclusive rights ≤ 4, total number of claims ≤ 30, no multiple dependent claims

② No extension allowed - OA response deadline is 3 months. If extended, it will return to the regular review process.

4. Advantages

① Significant acceleration: It is expected to receive the final review decision within 12 months, or even 6 months from the date of application

② No need to conduct pre review searches and provide relevant documents like AE programs, and no need to meet the interview requirements of the examiner

5. Disadvantage

① Higher official fees

② USPTO accepts 15000 Tmck0ne requests per fiscal year

③ If Trick One subsequently submits an RCE request, the RCE will no longer be eligible for acceleration and a new acceleration request must be submitted

（3） Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH)

1. Applicable cases

① First applied to a patent office that has signed a PPH agreement with USPTO, and later applied to enter USPTO

② PCT application for entering the national phase in the United States

Not applicable:

incidental motion

Plant application

Appearance application

Review Procedure

2. Request timing

Submit before the first review opinion is issued (before the substantive review begins)

No requirement for 'patent application already published'

3. Requirement

If at least one claim of the prior application is determined to be patentable, a claim correspondence table or correspondence explanation (if necessary, modify the claims) must be submitted to provide substantive correspondence with the claims of the prior application

4. Advantages

① No need to pay official fees

② Within 4 months, decide whether to approve the application of PPH, and after approval, generally receive the first review opinion notification within 4-5 months

5. Disadvantage

① The review speed may not necessarily be significantly accelerated

② May sacrifice the scope of protection

(IV)

Priority review based on applicant's age or health issues

1. Applicable conditions

① The applicant is over 65 years old, or their health condition cannot sustain the normal review cycle

② Not applicable for design applications

2. Request timing

Before the first review opinion is issued

3. Application method

① The age issue can be submitted through paper or electronic means, and relevant evidence should be submitted

② Health issues can be submitted through paper or electronic means, including doctor's certificates or other medical certificates

4. Advantages

① No need to pay official fees

② Whole process acceleration

Unite and move forward bravely together

two、European Patent Accelerated Examination Method

(1)Common Timeline of Euro PCT

(II)European invention acceleration method

1. R161/162 Waiver (processed 6 months in advance)

Abandoning proactive modification of application documents: saving 6 months

2. R70 (2) Waiver (processed 6 months in advance)

Abandoning the opportunity to confirm the continuation of the application after retrieval: saving 6 months

3. PACE (Received review notification within 3 months)

① No official fees

② Including searching PACE and reviewing PACE, PACE requests need to be submitted separately during the search and review phases

③ Only one PACE request can be submitted during both the retrieval and review phases

④ For the PACE procedure in the review stage, EPO generally strives to issue a notice of examination opinion within 3 months

⑤ The following situations will result in PACE failure:

The applicant withdraws PACE;

Request an extension of the response deadline;

Application rejected, withdrawn or deemed withdrawn (late response, late payment of annual fee)

⑥ The PACE program is in a confidential state and is not within the scope of public access.

The earlier a request is made, the more time it saves

4. Request to enter the EP phase in advance (up to 13 months in advance)

5. Patent Examination Highway (PPH)

① The EP patent application requesting participation in the PPH pilot project must have the same filing date as the corresponding prior examination office patent application or PCT application

② At least one claim in the corresponding patent application is considered patentable/authorizable by the prior examination office

③ The claims of the EP patent application covered by the request to participate in the PPH pilot project must be sufficiently consistent with the claims recognized by the prior examination office as patentable/authorizable: the scope of the claims is the same or similar

④ The substantive examination of the EP patent application requesting participation in the PPH pilot project has not yet begun

6. Choose EPO as the International Search Authority ISA

No need for supplementary search, saving 6 months

Unite and move forward bravely together

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